title: Silica-clad crystalline germanium core optical fibers.
abstract: Silica-clad optical fibers comprising a core of crystalline germanium were drawn using a molten core technique. With respect to previous fibers drawn using a borosilicate cladding, the present fibers exhibit negligible oxygen despite being fabricated at more than twice the melting point of the germanium. The counterintuitive result of less oxygen when the fiber is drawn at a higher temperatures is discussed. The measured propagation loss for the fiber was 0.7 dB/cm at 3.39 μm, which is the lowest loss reported to date.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, USA. jballat@clemson.edu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ballato
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hawkins
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Foy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Hon
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jalali
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rice